19990730022869I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-32-301 · Falmouth, MA · July 30, 1999

Date: July 30, 1999 · 11:30 local
Place: Falmouth, MA
Airport: Falmouth Airpart Airport
Phase of flight: Level Off Touchdown
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N8461C
Reported as: Piper PA32301
People aboard: 2
Fatal injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 700 total700 in this make and model20 in the last 90 days

N8461CRegistered now · Piper PA-32-301S/N 32-8206006 · Built 1981 Airframe modelPiper PA-32-301 Engine modelLycoming IO-540 seriesReciprocating

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

The aircraft landed short of runway 250. The aircraft hit the ground hard on the left main landing gear. The left main landing gear strut sheered approximately two inches from the bottom of the strut. The wheel and disks separated from the aircraft at this point. The aircraft slid on the left strut and wing for approximately 800 feet on runway 25 running off the runway as it slid. The aircraft came to a stop 40 feet to the left of the runway. A witness stated, that the pilot stated, that he was attempting to slow the aircraft down due to the short length of the Falmouth runway. The Falmouth runway length is 2300'.

As the FAA filed it

THE AIRCRAFT LANDED SHORT OF RUNWAY 250. THE AIRCRAFT HIT THE GROUND HARD ON THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR. THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR STRUT SHEERED APPROXIMATELY TWO INCHES FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE STRUT. THE WHEEL AND DISKS SEPARATED FROM THE AIRCRAFT AT THIS POINT. THE AIRCRAFT SLID ON THE LEFT STRUT AND WING FOR APPROXIMATELY 800 FEET ON RUNWAY 25 RUNNING OFF THE RUNWAY AS IT SLID. THE AIRCRAFT CAME TO A STOP 40 FEET TO THE LEFT OF THE RUNWAY. A WITNESS STATED, THAT THE PILOT STATED, THAT HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO SLOW THE AIRCRAFT DOWN DUE TO THE SHORT LENGTH OF THE FALMOUTH RUNWAY. THE FALMOUTH RUNWAY LENGTH IS 2300'.